Brothers
by A Random Introvert
Summary: How did Frank first respond to the idea of a new baby brother? First chapter in a series of brotherly one shots between the Pontipees from various points in their childhoods.


**Disclaimer: I do not own _Seven Brides for Seven Brothers _or anything related to it. **

The tension had been building for months, ever since the Pontipee brothers first found out that their mother was pregnant again. Each of the other boys had had their turn relinquishing their position as the youngest, and knew that Frank's turn to lose the spot would have to come sometime. The problem was, it had never occurred to Frank that he would ever _not _be the baby of the family. In his four-year-old mind, his family was complete. To him, this was all he knew, so consequently, this was all there was. When he heard the news of his mother's pregnancy, he was shocked. This wasn't the way things were supposed to be! Things were supposed to stay the same way forever, weren't they?

It was a rude awakening for him, and he didn't respond well to it. As the months went on and his precious mother grew rounder and rounder and more and more tired, he responded in the only way he knew how to deal with his feelings: anger. He scowled, stomped, sighed, and sulked around the house, wishing everything would go back to its rightful order. Once the baby was born, it only made things worse. He did not like this messy, screeching intruder that took up everyone's time and attention; how could such a little person be such a big nuisance? He wanted his mother back, and he was tired of being scolded every time he turned around for bothering the baby.

"Maaaa," he whined loudly, "Daniel punched me and called me a name and he won't 'pologize!" He didn't specify that the name that Daniel had called him was "baby." No need to let Ma know that disgraceful detail of his humiliation. "Ma!" he yelled again. This time she responded, but it wasn't with the sympathy he was seeking, it wasn't even a demand to know the details of the argument to see if Frank was exaggerating his side of the story like he usually did. "Frankincense! You woke up Gideon, and I'd just gotten him to sleep! I've told you a hundred times not to yell in the house, young man."

Well how do you like that? Not only did she not sympathize with him and right this terrible injustice, she didn't even acknowledge his injury. What good was a mother if she didn't even look at your wounds? What if he was dying and she didn't even notice? If he perished, it would be all Gideon's fault. Maybe then his mother would finally appreciate him! But then it would be too late for her to right her shortcomings as a mother . . .

"Did you hear me?" Frank was interrupted from his morbid musings by his mother's voice. "I told you to go play outside where you won't wake him again," she said as she picked up the squalling baby from his crib with a weary sigh. _Of course if __he__ cries he gets attention_, Frank thought bitterly and scowled at the "he" in question. "Young man, you have until I count to three to get outside, is that understood?" There were those two words again: young man. It seemed like that was all he ever heard anymore since that pest had joined the family and made Ma mad at him all the time.

When she reached the number three and Frank was still rooted to the spot glaring at both of them, she told him to go put his nose in the corner. Still he stood, his stance wide and his arms crossed over his chest. She took a step towards him, putting a firm hand to his arm to force him into the corner, and that was when he exploded.

When Frank was displeased about something, it always ended in the same way: a temper tantrum. Ever since he was a baby, his meltdowns had all followed the same formula. He'd slowly get crankier and crankier and wind himself tighter and tighter until he would snap at the littlest thing. The longer he waited before he snapped, the worse the tantrum would be. Though his family was impressed by how long he'd managed to reign in his displeasure over the new arrival, they all knew that he'd have to snap sometime, and they also knew that when he did, it would be a meltdown of epic proportions. It appeared that that long-awaited tantrum had just been set off.

He wrenched himself out of her grip and threw himself on the floor, screaming hateful sentiments towards Gideon, and dissolved into nonsensical screeching and violent writhing. When this didn't make his mother put that loathsome baby down and pay attention to him, he pummeled his chubby fists into her legs. Benjamin, who'd heard the racket and decided to investigate, stopped his little brother's assault on his mother immediately by throwing him over his shoulder, kicking and wailing, and bringing him outside to finish his tantrum. Frank continued to struggle against his eleven year old brother for a few minutes, but Ben just held him, knowing that the boy needed something to fight against to get this anger out of his system.

Deep down, the fury was just a cover for his grief and confusion, and after he'd burned through the rage, he began to sob loudly and bitterly, leaning against his brother's chest. He'd lost his security and routine and his place in the family; he'd lost his father, and sometimes it felt like he'd lost his mother, too. Ben rubbed his back as the little boy's body convulsed with wails over his inability to cope with all the sudden changes in his life. Finally spent, Frank's weeping subsided and his small hands clenched fistfuls of Ben's worn blue shirt like a lifeline. His body stiffened a bit and he guiltily lifted his puppy-dog eyes to meet his older brother's. "Are ya gonna tell Adam?" He asked in a small voice.

"Do you think I should?" Ben asked meaningfully. They both knew their father would undoubtedly have spanked him for his atrocious behavior towards his mother. If Ben told Adam, Adam would probably do the same. "I guess," Frank admitted, blinking back the tears that wetted his curly lashes.

"I'll tell ya what," Ben said, "You go apologize to Ma, and I won't tell him this time, deal?"

"Deal." Frank reluctantly disentangled himself from his brother's arms and shuffled back towards the house. Just before he got to the door, Ben looked down at him. "And Frank, you should really give Gideon a chance. Start fresh again, ya know? I know he ain't your favorite person right now, but you'll see how much fun it is to be a big brother. Just think, it'll be someone for _you_ to pick on!" He added with a teasing smile.

When he got back inside, Ma was sitting in her rocker alone, looking old and worn, like a once-fragrant flower fading into a colorless, brittle deadness. "Ma," Frank began, but instead if the respectful apology he'd been planning on delivering, he rushed into her arms and hugged her tightly against himself. Neither said a word as they clung to each other, both grieving and hurting. They didn't need to.

After a minute, he went over to the baby's crib and looked down at the sleeping figure, bundled up like an Eskimo. Gideon's cheeks were flushed a rosy pink, and his light-colored curls framed his chubby face like a halo. Frank thought about what Ben had said as he studied the round little bundle. Maybe it would be fun to be an older brother, now that he thought about it. There would certainly be some advantages to not being the littlest anymore, he thought ruefully as he rubbed at his jaw where Daniel had punched him.

Ben had said Gideon would be someone for him to tease, and it was true that he would most likely do a good deal of that, but the part about being a big brother that his own older brother had made him think about was the way he had acted . Gideon was going to look for him to advice just the way Frank did to his older brothers, and Frank resolved to be the just the kind of understanding, supportive big brother to Gideon that Ben was to him.

Frank turned to leave the crib when he remembered Benjamin's advice to give his brother a fresh start and turned around again. "Gid," he whispered, he wasn't about to wake the baby again by being too loud! "I'm sorry," he finished simply and turned around again to leave when a movement caught his eye. He glanced back at Gideon and saw that he was now awake. Frank braced himself for the wails that would soon come from his brother, squeezing his eyes shut as if that would somehow keep out the noise. When about ten seconds had passed and he hadn't heard a sound yet, Frank opened his eyes to see his baby brother smiling a big, toothless grin at him. And for the first time, Frank smiled back.

**Author's Note: I'm considering writing more interactions between the brothers from various points in their childhoods as additional chapters in this story. I know this isn't a very widely read fandom (sadly!), but reviews will still make me oh so happy!**


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